Time Well Spent

   I have learned so much on this journey to get my Masters. This is something I have always wanted to do. Three things that I feel deeply about are: That it takes a team of people to help change things and that is done by working together has a team. When it came to isms I never really thought about how many of them there are and how much diversity is involved. I have

 

always treated each child with the respect and let them know that they were loved I just assume that all teachers did that. The third is that we can make a difference in a child’s life if we work together with the families and communities. Treating a child and their families with respect and honoring their traditions and making them feel welcome are very important.

    The long term goal that I have is to work in a special needs class and to make sure that the children are welcomed and treated with respect. That all teachers and people know that they can be taught whether it be book learning or teaching life skills to them. Working with schools on teaching the teachers and assistants how to work with children with disabilities and I really hope to work with children with autism.

     I would like to say thank you to Dr. E and all my instructors throughout this journey. Also thanks to my classmates for all their advice through the blogs and discussions. I know that each of you will succeed in the path you take after graduation.

    

    

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

Save the Children is an international organization is one that I am very interested in is because they believe in investing in childhood-every day, in times of crisis and for their future.  They give children in the United State and all around the world a healthy start, and the opportunity to learn and protect them from harm.  They believe that by transforming a child’s life now it can change the course of their future plus ours. Their mission is “to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives” (Save the Children, 2011). That is important to me because the children are the future and we need to make sure they are ready in every way.

The job that I am interested in is education programme manager - derek/ne Syria and the qualifications are:

Minimum of 5 years' experience working in the field of Education in Emergencies including in a first phase emergency response

Education to Masters Level in Education or a relevant subject and/or equivalent field experience

Previous experience of programme management across multiple locations

Previous experience of preparing successful funding proposals for donors

Budget development and financial management skills

Demonstrated experience in leading assessment activities and of designing, managing, monitoring and evaluating education programmes in emergencies for international NGOs.

Proven capacity to supervise, train and coach staff in EiE technical skills and in delivering training to teachers

Experience of applying relevant interagency humanitarian frameworks and standards in education in emergencies (for example INEE Minimum Standards)

Experience of representation, including on coordination mechanisms (e.g. Cluster or working groups), and working with the Ministry of Education

A high level of written and spoken English

Excellent communication skills

Politically and culturally sensitive with qualities of patience, tact and diplomacy

Strong influencing skills and experience in advocacy

The capacity and willingness to be extremely flexible and accommodating in difficult and sometimes insecure working circumstances.

Commitment to the aims and principles of SC. In particular, a good understanding of the SC mandate and child focus and an ability to ensure this continues to underpin our support.

The second I chose was International Step By Step Association. I chose this because I agree with their vision, mission and the goals they have. Their vision is A society where families, communities and professionals work together to empower each child to reach her or his unique potential and embrace values of social justice and equity (http://www.issa.nl/). We are a learning community powered by the leading early childhood experts in Europe and Central Asia. We unite professionals and partners to deliver high-quality early years services equitably. We challenge existing knowledge and practice and co-construct new approaches and models.

The third I chose was The Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) is a group that believes every child in every country will have access to quality education. They work to encourage innovative solutions to educational challenges and inspire action that creates positive, sustainable futures for children all over the world.  I love this group’s proactive stance on every single child receiving access to quality education. One of their programs is the Love Me, Teach Me. The Love Me, Teach Me campaign promotes the needs and rights of children everywhere. The campaign is built upon the four cornerstones of See Me, Hear Me, Love Me, and Teach Me (acei.org). This is one area that I have always been interested in learning more about.  I could not have any jobs available but they have many volunteer’s positions that you could do.

http://portal.acei.org/

International Step By Step Association. (n.d.). Retrieved November 28, 2011, from http://www.issa.nl/index.html

Save the Children. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.savethechildren.org/site/

c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6115947/k.8D6E/Official_Site.htm

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: National/Federal Level

The first organization I chose was NAEYCE know has “The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) it is a professional membership organization. The reason I chose this was because it works to increase the quality of education for all children from birth through age eight. Accreditation systems are the biggest part of NAEYC's efforts to improve early childhood education; they accept programs to provide the best education experiences for young children and their educators by meeting national standards of importance. Looking through for a job they said was closed. The one I would have like was the Community Manager. http://www.naeyc.org/

The second one I chose is the Head Start Program that has been one program I have thought is great ever since my son went there. It works on making sure that children from low-income families are prepared for school and in life. .  Head Start and Early Head Start programs support the mental, social, and emotional development of children from birth to age 5. I would love to have a teaching position at Head Start and the requirements are Early Childhood Associate Degree, Early Childhood B.A./B.S. or a Bachelor’s or advanced degree and coursework equivalent to a major relating to Early Childhood.

The third one I chose is from Every Child Matters and the reason for this is because it has so many programs going that is focus on children, their families, and education. They want to make sure the government puts children and their families first. They want to make change so every child has the things they need in life and the part I think is important is to make sure that every child has a safe environment in their home, school and neighborhood. They are committed to preventing child abuse, ending deaths due to abuse and neglect, and to reducing gun violence.I would love to work for them but I could not find any job listings or available.

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/ohs

http://everychildmatters.org/our-issues/safe-kids/

http://www.naeyc.org/

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EXPLORING ROLES IN THE ECE COMMUNITY: LOCAL AND STATE LEVELS

The first program I chose was Early Childhood Alliance. The reason for this is because Early Childhood Alliance has been furnishing programs and services to meet the needs of families and children, in northern Indiana. It is recognized as a leader in the early care and education field.  They use High Scope curriculum, which supports the Foundations for Young Children to the Indiana Academic Standards. They use nationally recognized Daily activities that help children – from infancy through kindergarten – develop physically, socially, and emotionally. The best part is what they call Pathways to quality which has 4 levels.

They have many job openings for teachers full and part time. Depending on which one you choose the requirements are from age 18 or older and at least an associate degree. They have a job opening for pre-k that I apply for and an interested in.

The second one I chose was the Head Start Program. This has always interested me ever since my son went there. They provide a quality education and help the families with many services, like health, nutritional, and other developmental social services to low-income and special needs preschool children and their families. There early learning program teachers prepare them for school through play that is planned or spontaneous instruction. They grow in every area from learning social skills and motor development. They work with the parents in many ways to help them succeed in their home life and relationships with their children.

They are not hiring at this time and you need at least a BA in ECE.

The third one I chose is called the Teaching Tree. I chose this one because it takes infants to school age children. The children are in different classrooms by age. It has a multi-aged preschool classroom.  What they do in this classroom the child will enjoy activities including Music & Movement, circle time, and they have a structured pre-school curriculum. The children also get to talk about things 
that are important to them and the free choice is designed to give the child a sense of control and to learn to make their own decisions.

http://theteachingtree.com/index.html

https://www.ecalliance.org/about-us/

www.brightpoint.org

Reflecting on Learning

As a childhood educator my hope is to help all the children so they can flourish and succeed, regardless of their gender, ethnicity, or how they look. That we can honor the differences as much as we honor the similarities. I also hope that I can leave a positive and forever effect on the children’s life. I am going to me an advocate for the families in my classroom I want to make sure that the families can get the quality services that they need. I hope to build a classroom that the children feel safe and treated with respect.

To my classmates and Dr. Bird-Pickens

Thank you the last 8 weeks have been challenging and yet learning experience. I have enjoyed learning from each of you through the discussions and blogs. What we have learned from one another is ways to help educate our students and colleagues on what anti-bias education is and how to treat all people equally and with respect. As we move on into what life brings us I wish you all the best of luck in the future. I hope to see some of you in my last class here at Walden

Impact on Early Emotional Development

I chose Eastern and Southern Africa especially Ethiopia because I wondered what it would be likes to live in a country with little to no rain and how they survived. They are facing the worst drought ever and the malnutrition rate is high so this leaves the children vulnerable to diseases. Measles was terrible until the children started to get vaccinated. Many children had died from a disease that can be prevented but being an under develop country they never had the resources.  Along with the diseases and malnutrition there is lack of drinking water. Pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria are three more things that are a big problem for newborns.

The way that this would effect a child’s development is that if they do not have proper nutrition and to get some type of disease this could cause a delay in learning and how they feel emotionally. They would not have the strength or energy to do anything. With all of these things children would not develop properly and most would die by the age of 5. With the help of UNICEF the country can get the support, supplies, and medicines and is helping the resilience of food insecurity. It teaches the families and communities to recognize what can cause malnutrition and helps them to find the resources needed.

As an educator I learned that we must learn what these children are going through and how to deal with them in a healthy way. Finding ways to make the children have a good experience in a safe and comfortable classroom is important. We must also build a trusting relationship with the parents and to help them learn how to help their child.

UNICEF (2011). Retrieved from: http://www.unicef.org/wcaro/english/media_10211.html

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

While reading this article, I was somewhat surprise but felt dismay and troubled for the generations to come. When it comes to my grandchildren (son is an adult) I would not want them to believe that they would have to dress enticing, or to walk with a sexy walk just to be popular. When it comes to television especially the ads and magazines with their articles and picture have considered what is sexy. This makes it very hard to make the children understand that is not the norm. Children have a hard enough time to fit in. Children being expose to this at since an early age can cause them to have an unhealthy relationship has they get older. In the article by Levin and Kilborne (2009) it states that when children are taught to focus on physical appearance and sex appeal, it has a negative impact on their development. 

In one of the childcares center where I worked I observe a young girl and boy playing house and the young girl took the boy by the hand and said come on honey I have something I want to show you. I went over and told them they were too young and it was not right for them to talk and act that way. Last year in my class I had a young girl that would dress in tight clothes and would do things to get the boys to like her and to be her boyfriend.  It came to the point that when she came to school dress like that we would put her in proper clothes. At the end of the day at school we let the kids dance to music and there were a couple of young girls that would gyrate to the music even songs in which they shouldn’t I ask where they learn to dance like that and they said watching music videos.

 We has educators need to make sure that we watch what the children are doing and then sit and talk to them and help them to understand that is not the proper way to behave. As educators we need to guide and help the children to having the self-confidence to make the right decisions on how to act. We need to continue to guide them on not to be in a hurry to be grow up and enjoy their childhood.

Levin, D. E., & Kilbourne, J. (2009). [Introduction]. So sexy so soon: The new sexualized childhood and what parents can do to protect their kids (pp. 1-8). New York: Ballantine Books. Retrieved from: http://dianeelevin.com/sosexysosoon/introduction.pdf

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

Since taking this class and from previous classes I have grown much when it has come to diversity. I never knew just how much that I did not know about diversity and learning about how many ism’s there are. I have always accepted and respected people for whom they are. To be able to do that is first you must know your self-identity, “The better you know yourself, the better you can understand your responses to children and families you work with,” this is what Derman-Sparks & Edwards (2010) suggest. When it comes to being an educator, it is important for individuals to understand their self-identity to flourish and to lead others in the right direction. 

An ism that I feel that I see not only in the classroom but everywhere is racism; children have been learning that from the very beginning of their life. They hear their parents talking about and seeing it in the news every day. Teaching children to know that being mean or saying mean things about or to someone is not good thing. As educators we must teach the children that we are all equal, and the color of a person skin or where they come from doesn’t mean that they are much different than them. Our focus should be on teaching them to being kind and understanding to everyone. When I hear a child saying that they can’t play with certain people because they are of a different race, I find that to be a good time to talk about how that can make someone feel bad.

In my classroom I expect every student to respect me and their classmates. Children learn from adults and others so I must treat them and others with respect.  Being the teacher I set the tone for the way I want things to be in my classroom.

Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Observing Communication

My observation took place in a classroom with children that have different disabilities. The grades were kindergarten to second grade.  I was watching a teacher’s assistant working with a child age six with ADHD and the mind of a three or four year old. They were working on learning how to spell their name and to draw a picture of their family. Well with child was not paying attention and not doing what he was supposed to do.

The assistant was talking to him and asking questions about his family who he lived with, any brothers or sisters and if he had any pets, he was answering her questions. In the video Lisa Kolbeck also mentions that children have to have to feel listened to and seen (Laureate Education, 2011). So by her asking him about his family he felt like she cared and he enjoyed sharing the information with her. I believed that by her getting to his level and asking him questions it helped him to connect with what they were doing, he drew his family even though it wasn’t very well she told him how wonderful it was and he became very excited about it.

I work with children with disabilities every day and my grandson is ADHD and is on the autism spectrum and she handle it just has I do with my class and grandson. By showing them that we care about how they feel and we are interested in the things they do will make a happy child. As Stephenson points out, through observation, “I learned that each child has a different style, and is likely to talk in different ways and in different contexts. I needed to find ways they could communicate that were enjoyable for them” (Stephenson, 2009).

 Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). Strategies for working with diverse children: Communicating with young children. Baltimore, MD:

Stephenson, A. (2009). Conversations with a 2-year-old. YC: Young Children, 64(2), 90-95. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database. http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=37131016&site=ehost-live&scope=site

 

Creating Affirming Environments

My Family Child Care home will be displayed in a way to show parents that they are welcome and their children will receive the best educational experience in my care. I would do that by hanging pictures of all the families and some things from their culture. The environment will be a positive and welcoming environment. There will be a lot of multicultural pictures and I will conduct project in which families send information about their cultural.

   “Relationships and interactions with children and families, the visual and material environment, and the daily curriculum all come together to create the anti-bias learning community" (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010, p.51).

My daycare will have a reading area with books on diversity, people who have jobs in the community, and how there are different types of families. I will have a dramatic play area which would have will have costumes, puppets and dolls from all forms of culture and diversity. With these things the children can not only use their imagination, but also play out many characters regardless of their gender. For instance, we will have dolls with different skin colors, gender and dolls that represent different disabilities such as being on a wheelchair or having a hearing aid. I would have a music area and that would have music and instruments from different cultures.

"The toys material and equipment you put out for children; the posters, pictures, and art objects you hang on the wall;  and the types of furniture and how you arrange them all influence what children learn”(Derman (Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). I would have posters and art work from different cultures hanging on the wall. I would ask parents to bring in some type of food from their cultures to have the children try. I would want my daycare to be a welcoming and safe environment for all the children who come.

Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

 

What I have Learned

 

 

One hopes that I have when I think about working with children and families that I can teach them to respect and to treat everyone equally. I would hope that I could teach the children that even though we do not look, act, or have different ways we live that we all are and want the same thing in life, to feel accepted for who we are. That being different is what makes them and others unique. I also hope that just because someone comes from a different background that I do not judge them unfairly. Children are the hope for the future and I want to be the one who starts them off in the right direction.

 The one goal you would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is that all educators especially teachers in the ECE field is that they all should have taken classes on all these issues. If we can learn and teach ourselves how to deal with these issues than we can teach these to our children the world would be a better place.  I would like for the whole Early Childhood field to accept people for who they are and to urge them to promote anti-bias curriculum equality for all.

Finally has these 8 weeks come to an end I would like to say Thank You to Dr. Kein and all of my colleagues. You all have made this course a very informative learning experience. I have learned much about myself and how to work and teach anti-bias and diversity to my students. I could not have made it through this course without all the encouragement and the wonderful ideas from the discussions and blogs. I wish you all much happiness and luck has you continuing your life journeys.

 

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Seeing Diversity Art

"We Don't Say Those Words in Class!"

I can remember a time when I was grocery shopping and had my grandchildren with me. My grandson William saw a man from Burma and he asked why the man was wearing a long sheet. I quickly bent down and told him to please not say that to someone. I told the gentleman that I was sorry for what he said. Than he did something that totally surprised me, he explained to him why he wears clothes like this sometimes. He told him that was how men in his country sometimes wear these garments. My grandson looked at him and said that he was sorry and thanked him for telling him that.

I think that the person responded very nicely and did a great job of not making my grandson feel like he totally did something wrong. Later I talked to him about not saying things or making fun of people who are different because he would not like someone to make fun of him.

As an anti-bias educator I would talk to them about the different cultures and how people dress and do things differently than we do. We are all the same; we are all different understanding more about feeling proud of their own culture and learn respect for others” ( Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010, p. 67). I would do this by picking a different culture to teach about monthly so they could get a good understanding. I would also do this about people with disabilities.

Sparks-Derman, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves. Washington: National Association for the Education of Young Children. p. 67.

 

Gender, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation

Homophobia and heterosexism have permeated the world of young children in several ways. In our culture it is implanted that the traditional family that consists of a man and female has the norm. In the early childhood centers and schools you have many books on families in which have a mother and father that live in a happy home usually with a pet. When it comes to toys of families it is the same way.  When watching movies in the classroom you never see one where the couples are of the same sex.

I believe that has an educator childhood center should not exclude books that depict gay or lesbian individuals especially since we live in a world that allows them to be a married couple. In our world there are many same sex couples that are raising children and they will be going to these schools so it means we need to teach the other children this can be counted has a family too.

If I were in a situation where a parent didn’t want their child in a classroom with a homosexual or transgender person I would tell them that we have a curriculum that we follow and that the sexual orientation of the others should not be a problem when it comes to their child’s education. But after explaining all this and they still feel that way I would tell them maybe they should look elsewhere.

I cannot ever remember using any of these terms but have heard people use them. My nephew called his uncle gay along with friends even singing a song. This made him horrible because he is gay and he thought that his nephew cared about him. When children hear this from an adult or parent they will do the same and more than likely they do not know what the word means they are just repeating what they hear. This can lead the child to being prejudice to others. This can have a negative effect on a child and make a child feel bad. I have a boy in my class that is being raise by his gay grandmother and her partner and a child ask her if she was a man or woman. This was because he had heard someone else made that comment.

 

 

 

 

THANK YOU AND GOOD-BYE

I would like to say thank you and good-bye to my colleagues and Dr. Williams, you all have taught me so much on communication and the strategies needed to improve them. When it came to our discussions and blogs you all gave me so many things to think about what I was doing right and what I was doing wrong. I knew some of you from all classes and enjoyed meeting the new ones.  I hope has we continue in our future classes that I will once again get to see you all again. If I don’t I wish you all the luck in your profession and in your continuing education. Thank You for being a small part of my learning process.  If any of you would like to keep in touch my blog will be up and look me up on Facebook Mary Cowles.  Good luck and may God continue giving you blessings.

Adjourning and Saying Good-bye

Once a group has meant its goal and objective it moves to the adjourning stage. This stage is vital in teamwork because at some point the team splints up and we can share with others what we have learned and can adjourn with a positive ending. The closing rituals that we had was we had a farewell get together we gave each other hugs, high fives and set a date for a time to get together after the carnival.

The hardest group that I had to leave was when I transferred to a new school to work at. The first job that I had working at a school my co-workers and I had to play the school carnival and we all came in with a positive attitude and great ideals. Even though we all worked in different grade levels we still had a great time and grew together both personally and professionally. Those are the times I will remember even though I left we still get together at least 2 or 3 times a year. When my husband died I got the greatest support from the group that I worked together with and we have an everlasting bond.

 As our time is getting close to leave with our Master’s degree I feel that has I adjourn from all of my colleagues at Walden I will feel sad but happy at the same time. I will feel sad because I will miss my classmates and professors that I learned so much from. I will be happy because I would have fulfilled my dream of getting my degree that I have always wanted. Even though we are saying good-bye to each other but hopefully stay in contact through e-mails and Facebook.

Coflicts

One personal conflict that I have had is with my daughter-in-law this is something that happens a lot. If anyone could give me some advice that would help it would be great. This conflict happened last weekend when I took my grandsons home. I have them every weekend so she can get things done around the house. Well what happen was I was sick and told her that I would not have them all weekend, well her reaction was so I will not get a break from the boys, not caring one bit how I was feeling and a good chance they would get sick. Well has usual I took them and my special needs grandson’s behavior was worse than usual and with me not feeling well it really got to me. I called her when I was bringing them home (if I don’t she gets mad) and was telling her about what happened and she started yelling at me. What she said was that every time I take the boys I always complain about his behavior. I try to explain that I am not complaining I just want her to know so she can let his therapist know. I know that having a child with special need can cause someone to feel stressed and I try to feel empathetic but she makes it so hard with her attitude. She knows I work with children with special needs every day and I try to help her with my grandson by giving her books and information that I gather for her. The two strategies that I learned and used was respect and honesty which did not seem to matter because she just yelled and put me down about not wanting to spend time with my grandsons. I talked to my co-worker about this and she said that I should just ignore and to stop telling her when a meltdown happens with him. I think that both nonviolent communication and the 3 R’s could both be helpful in this situation because it teaches us the best way to express ourselves but also to be compassionate to the needs of the one we are talking with.